Dream Theater 40th Anniversary Tour - Raleigh NC February 8, 2025

[hefdaddy42]

Wow, what a night last night!  Let's do a recap!

First of all, there was a pre-show meetup for DTUSA.  There were a total of four DTF members there, so we did the salute.  Suck it, bitches.

From L to R: skydivingninja, ReaperKK, me, The Silent Ham




There was a trivia contest.  We had to go extra innings, but I eventually defeated skydivingninja, with ReaperKK finishing third.  We all won prizes.  Here are mine.




We get into the venue, and find out that God is in favor of everything that is going on, because skydivingninja is sitting right next to me and my family.



Next, the actual show.  Absolutely the best visuals/laser show of any DT show I've ever attended.  The pics don't do it justice.
























BTW, shout out to these two absolute legends who were in the balcony to our left.  Almost as entertaining as the band.





Also, in the balcony to our left, we had the air drumming champion of the world.



Afterwards we all had aftershow passes, and got to meet John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess.  Unfortunately, imgur is being an asshole and won't let me upload those pics.  Hopefully one of the other guys will have better luck.

All in all, a great night!  Always good to see the band, of course, but equally good to spend time with fellow DTF members.  Also, I'm exhausted; I may be getting too old for this shit lol

[TAC]

Reaper looks like he could be Cram's cousin.

[Adami]

Reaper looks like he could be Cram's cousin.

I just assumed it was Cram till I read it wasn't.

[cramx3]

Not sure I see it other than white dude    Im also much fatter

As for the guys rocking out, that could have been me 

[Cool Chris]

Wow, what a night last night!  Let's do a recap!

First of all, there was a pre-show meetup for DTUSA.  There were a total of four DTF members there, so we did the salute.  Suck it, bitches.

From L to R: skydivingninja, ReaperKK, me, The Silent Ham

Never thought I'd say this about a picture of some guys from dtf.org, but.... nice cock.

[jingle.boy]

Not sure I see it other than white dude    Im also much fatter

And you have better teeth!

What's more comparable is Hammy bears a striking resemblance to Coz, imo

[Progmaniac1988]

Hef you look exactly like one would think after spending a couple years on this forum lol

[hefdaddy42]

Hef you look exactly like one would think after spending a couple years on this forum lol

Not sure if that's good or bad lol 

[Progmaniac1988]

Not sure if that's good or bad lol

😂 I'd say it's a good thing. Shit I Cannot wait for CT and NYC. This tour Looks like a blast. Going to be a long month!

[TheSilentHam]

Great show, and I highly recommend the meetups - it was a great time.  Really enjoyed meeting hefdaddy, skydivingninja and ReaperKK

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Sorry I couldn't make the meetup. Will try to be there next time. The show was insane!

[hefdaddy42]

Sorry I couldn't make the meetup. Will try to be there next time. The show was insane!

You were missed, pal!

[hefdaddy42]

I was finally able to get these after show pics uploaded.  Here they are.

[Cecilia]

Thanks for sharing, the pictures are awesome!

What do the bracelets say?

[hefdaddy42]

Thanks for sharing, the pictures are awesome!

What do the bracelets say?

My youngest made the bracelets, they say "Raleigh   DT". They were able to give JP and JR theirs personally, and JP took 3 more to give to the rest of the band. 

[nobloodyname]

Fantastic post and photos!

I said it elsehwere, too, but I am delighted the tour is going down as well in the US as it has elsewhere. It's all on a whole new level.

Also, 'The Silent Ham'

[jingle.boy]

My youngest made the bracelets, they say "Raleigh  DT". They were able to give JP and JR theirs personally, and JP took 3 more to give to the rest of the band.

That's fuckin awesome!

[hefdaddy42]

Fantastic post and photos!

I said it elsehwere, too, but I am delighted the tour is going down as well in the US as it has elsewhere. It's all on a whole new level.

Well, I know that the first two shows at least were sold out, but the show in Raleigh was definitely at a smaller venue that a lot of the European venues they play.

[skydivingninja]

Pretty freaking thrilled with the show and it was cool meeting folks in person after originally joining here back in 2006. Glad I checked Facebook on a whim to see if there was a fan club meetup.

Big thank you to Hef for sharing the backstage passes he won with me and ReaperKK. Got a chance to tell JP just how much Scenes and Octavarium meant for me, especially having never seen those tunes live. No matter how I feel about the band or new material nowadays they're always gonna have a special place in my own musical journey.

[hefdaddy42]

Big thank you to Hef for sharing the backstage passes he won with me and ReaperKK.

My absolute pleasure, my friend!

[RaiseTheKnife]

Some of our pics from the Raleigh show:

[RaiseTheKnife]

I did note that James was wearing a full-on Satanic shirt of Baphomet and an inverted cross, which kinda surprised me.  I know its a "metal" look, but given his lyrics and my impression of his views on faith, I was not expecting that from him.

Overall amazing show.  Visually one of the best I've attended.  Portnoy was very engaging with the crowd and it felt like old times to see him up there.

[jingle.boy]

Those are amazing seats, RTK.  I had seats like that once - in Mesa for the Dramatic Tour.  Possibly my best concert experience ever.

[CodyWanKenobi]

How's James been sounding since being sick last week?

[RaiseTheKnife]

How's James been sounding since being sick last week?

I'll let you know after this weekend.  Seeing them again on 2/22/25 in Los Angeles.

[CodyWanKenobi]

I'll let you know after this weekend.  Seeing them again on 2/22/25 in Los Angeles.

Lol I'll also be at that show. That's why I was curious. Should have asked in the general 40th anniversary tour thread though so that was my bad lol